actionable items

August was going so badly that I had to do something for my mental health.  No kidding, seemingly endless heat and humidity can get me down more than cold, gray skies.  I'm weird that way.  After spending most of my free time flopping around on the couch for a few weeks, I decided to take action to halt my slide.  I knew there were things which, if done, would make me feel better, and I had but to leap in and do them.  So, Friday morning, bright and early, instead of making coffee at home and getting depressed as I read the NYTimes, I walked the dog to a neighborhood bakery for a cup of coffee. The weather had turned a bit cooler.  People greeted me with smiling faces.  It was delightful.

On Friday evening, I cleared off all of the many bookshelves in my front room.  Even though I had painted the rest of the room, I'd left the dark gray color behind the shelves, trying to convince myself that it looked like I meant for it to be that way.  After a week of looking at it, I was unconvinced.  It just looked like I was too lazy to clean off and paint behind the shelves, which I was.  But on Friday, I put on my big girl pants and I did it.  The shelves needed to be thoroughly cleaned anyway, and the things on the shelves needed to be Konmaried. The shelves looked great.  I felt even better.

Saturday morning, another dog walk, and then I road my bike to the farmer's market.  Joyful joyful!  It was cool!  It was wonderful. People were out and about enjoying the bountiful market we have in our lovely little city.

I came back to my freshly painted wall and cleared bookshelves, but the rest of room looked like a bomb had exploded. I had to do the Konmarie part of the project wherein I get rid of things. Sometimes this is easy, as in the case of books I've already read and weren't the best books ever.  Sometimes this is hard, as in memorabilia from this and that, old photos I'd stuck here and there, my rock and fossil collection, my most beloved books, my cook books, my saved kids books. It took awhile to go through it all.  Most of the photos will be organized or put into their correct boxes.  A few rocks get to stay--I mean, come on, I haven't actively collected rocks for 30 years now.  I used to have them all carefully labeled--that was three moves ago. In the end, the shelves were clean, organized, and still interesting (to me).  Another happy-making task done! Who is this person?  My energy was soaring!

There was nothing stopping me now from taking down all the art and curtains, patching the holes, and painting the entryway a very vivid green color. Vivid green!  This is a color that does not scream slothfullness, sadness, or giving up. This is a color for joyful living!  It was also the last vestige of the depressing dark gray in my front living area, and it had to go.. So go it did, and I am all the better for it.  It is a very vivid green, as I may have mentioned.  But I'll eventually hang some pictures and it will be fine.  FINE.  I mean, it's vivid right now, but some people in this house will just have to trust me and my vision of the final product.

That was Saturday.  All of Saturday, every last ounce of it.  But however much I would've liked to sleep in on Sunday and bask in the glory of my accomplishments, I could not.  The dog gets up at 6:45, each and every morning.  No slacking for this little canine. So coffee, a little breakfast, and we were off to Griffy Lake where we took a trail run together.  She is so very happy when her head is hanging out the window in the wind as we drive somewhere, and even happier when we are running through the woods.  She abandons herself to the moment, lost in the act of running for the pure joy of it. Her happiness is contagious.  I, too, am happier.  My list of actionable items and the cooler weather had worked a miracle to produce a better mental and physical state than I have been in lately.

Photo: If you are on Instagram, you should check out the Russian woman's wistful little felted animals.  She is stowaways_toys and I find her work delightful.